In a continuing effort to improve the quality of shipping fruits, I, the inventor, typically hybridize a large number of peach, nectarine, plum, apricot, and cherry seedlings each year. The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of peach tree, which has been denominated varietally as ‘Candy Princess’. The present variety was hybridized by me in 1996, grown as a seedling on its own root in my greenhouse, and transplanted to a cultivated area of my experimental orchard at Bradford Farms near Le Grand, Calif. in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley).
The variety was developed as a first generation cross using ‘Spring Bright’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,507) yellow flesh nectarine as the selected seed parent and an unnamed peach (unpatented) as the selected pollen parent. A single tree from the stated cross was selected as the claimed variety. Subsequent to origination of the present variety of nectarine tree, I asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting in the experimental orchard described above, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects. The reproduction of the variety included the use of ‘Nemaguard’ (unpatented) rootstock upon which the present variety was compatible and true to type.
The present variety is similar to its selected seed parent, ‘Spring Bright’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,507) nectarine, by producing fruit that is globose in shape, firm and crisp in texture, mostly red in skin color, and yellow in flesh color, but is very distinguished therefrom and an improvement thereon by producing fruit that is freestone instead of clingstone, that is sub-acid instead of acid in flavor, that matures about four weeks later, and that is peach instead of nectarine.
The present variety is most similar to ‘Spring Candy’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,677) peach by sharing the same parentage and by producing peaches that are freestone in type, nearly full red in skin color, yellow with some red streaking in flesh color, firm in texture, and sub-acid in flavor, but is distinguished therefrom by producing peaches that are larger in size and that mature about three weeks later.